


girls

by soliloquies



Series: after all this ends [1]
Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Bisexuality, M/M, Original Character(s), bisexual!Odd, odd and ulrich friendship, post-XANA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 10:51:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14400612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soliloquies/pseuds/soliloquies
Summary: Odd’ll just have to keep this a secret.(Right, well, this whole keeping a secret thing is getting really hard.)





	girls

_“Girls! You leave them alone for five minutes and it’s mess after mess after mess!”_ — “Missing Link,” Code Lyoko, Episode 34

 

Odd’s found that he quite likes kissing Timothy Green in the boys’ bathroom between class.

Well, what else does he have to do? XANA isn’t dragging them around anymore, and Odd needs a bit of spice in his life.

Hence the covert kissing in bathrooms.

His chest is burning for air by the time he breaks away, and he can see Timothy’s mouth is red and just slightly swollen. Odd’s on the short side, so he’s looking a bit up to find Timothy’s eyes.

“What’s your next class?” he rasps. Timothy grins.

“Social Studies. Fumet.”

Odd thinks back to all the times Yumi’s walked with Ulrich to his class, brushing off the bell and saying, “Oh, Mr. Fumet doesn’t really care if you’re a minute late, as long as you get good grades.”

“Cool,” Odd replies just as the bell rings, and they’re brushing lips again.

It’s different, with him.

He remembers his previous kissing experience (which is sadly only four accounts, all with Sam), and remembers how Sam was soft, soft in the way that she was often submissive, and wanted to be led into it, even though she was a firecracker at heart.

Here, he’s fighting just to gain control. There are tongues in mouths and collars being pulled, and Odd has to drag himself away because the late bell just rang and class has officially started.

“My friends will be wondering where I am,” Odd admits and Timothy nods.

“You first, then,” he responds. Odd runs his hands lightly through his hair and smiles, calling out, “See you tomorrow!” before he pushes open the bathroom door and runs toward Ulrich and Jeremie. Jeremie is glancing at his watch just as he reaches them.

“Where were you?” Ulrich demands, and Jeremie raises his eyebrows in askance.

Odd shrugs, carefree. “Duty calls, my friends.”

Jeremie grins. “Looks like you had one too many breakfast burritos, Odd,” he says, and Ulrich is already retaliating (“Aw, gross! Thanks a _lot,_ Jeremie!”), but Odd is long gone.

Odd nods at the right times and laughs at the right times, but other than that, he really isn’t paying attention to the back-and-forth conversation that the other two are having. It’s been a long week, and he’s starting to get worried. He knows his friends. They’ll get suspicious if he doesn’t somehow come up with a reason for why he’s perpetually late for class (at least… more late than usual.)

In fact…

“Look, Odd, just don’t be late tomorrow, okay? We have a lot of missed time to make up for,” Jeremie says.

Odd nods seriously. Inwardly, he groans. How can he tell them? _Sorry guys, go on without me, I just gotta make out with Timothy Green real quick before class._

Yeah, _no._

How can he ever explain himself? Jeremie is actually dating Aelita (it’s crazy that they got together before Ulrich and Yumi) and Ulrich’s got God-knows-what with Yumi, so he can’t ever ask them to understand.

And he’s not upset. He just knows they’ll never get what it’s like.

So he slithers into class, shifty eyes and an innocent hand on the back of his neck, and waits for Mrs. Hertz to stop the lecturing, and the curious eyes to stop looking.

He’ll just have to keep this a secret.

* * *

(Right, well, this whole keeping a secret thing is getting really hard.)

Odd’s been late to class four times this week, and the other times have been him barely scraping in the door at the last second, hair waving behind him.

Half the time he’s looking flushed and winded, and hell, even Sissy’s noticed he’s been acting weird, and Sissy doesn’t give a damn about anything they do anymore.

Odd slips into art class while Mr. Chardin’s back is turned, but that doesn’t stop Ulrich from hissing, “Where the hell were you?” while Odd tries to make himself look busy setting up his palette.

Just as Odd opens his mouth, Mr. Chardin turns around and spots him through the mess of easels. “Mr. Della Robbia, thank you for joining us,” he calls out. “Did you get lost in the halls again?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

Odd’s cheeks burn. That hastily-made-up excuse is coming back to bite him in the butt.

The class roars with laughter, but Aelita leans closer to him, a frown etched across her face. “Odd, are you okay? Is something going on?” Even Ulrich’s looking at him with something like concern.

Odd whips his head around, squeezing too much red into his mixture. “Nothing! Nothing at all, guys!” he says with false cheer.

He hopes they don’t notice.

* * *

By lunchtime, Odd is seriously starting to regret all the decisions he’s ever made in his life. He picks up a tray miserably, not even bothering to look at the choices in front of him, and just picks one of each absentmindedly.

Aelita looks like she’s got something up her sleeve, the way she keeps exchanging looks with Yumi and glancing back at him, and Ulrich won’t even talk to him (“I know you’re hiding something, Odd!” was what he’d last said after Odd’s halfhearted attempt at waving their concerns off in math.).

Odd is so lost in thought that he just swirls his beef stew around in his bowl, and almost misses Jeremie say, “Are you sick, or something, Odd? You’ve barely touched your food.”

“Plus you keep going to the bathroom all the time,” he adds jokingly, but the tease only makes Odd more sullen.

“Is this about your history test grade?” Yumi chimes in. “Lighten up, Odd! You guys are having pizza for dinner!”

“It’s just one test,” Aelita reassures him.

 _Crap._ Odd had almost forgotten about his history test. Two more strikes and Mr. Delmas will be calling his parents.

Odd’s gaze wanders to just off of Ulrich’s left shoulder, and across the hall, Timothy’s staring at him, with his chin propped up leisurely on one hand.

Timothy grins.

Odd blushes and smiles back.

Ulrich’s eyes widen when he notices Odd’s expression. “Whoa, what was that?” he demands. Odd freezes.

Ulrich whips his head back around behind him, but there’s nothing to see; Timothy’s already in conversation with his friends, and Odd is patting his potatoes into mush with his spoon.

“Odd, what was that?” Ulrich asks slowly, like he’s talking to a toddler, or maybe someone possessed by XANA.

The rest of them hadn’t caught the exchange, and Aelita’s asking, “What happened?” and Jeremie’s staring at them like he’s trying to decipher a program code.

Ulrich’s got the weirdest look on his face.

“What was what?” Odd asks quietly, heart in his throat.

A few tables away, Sissy laughs too loudly and too shrill at something that probably isn’t even that funny.

Ulrich’s eyes are narrowing in on him like he’s caught on to something. Odd levels his gaze back, but his mind and stomach are churning. What if Ulrich knows? What if he knows, and thinks he’s disgusting and doesn’t want to be friends with him anymore? What if he figures it out, and thinks he’s so gross that he doesn’t want them to room together, doesn’t want to be so near to someone so compromising?

Odd’s heart is pounding in his chest, and he can’t look at Ulrich right now, can’t look at any of his friends right now, or they’ll figure him out and turn away, whispering words so sharp he’s afraid they’ll impale him straight through, like laser arrows made of hurt.

He knows his friends are the nice sort, but there are some things that you just can’t deal with. (What if _this_ , him and Timothy, what if _that’s_ something they decide they can’t deal with?)

Odd stands up abruptly, picking up his plate. “I’m not hungry anymore,” he says, and then leaves without looking back, before it all gets worse.

* * *

Odd avoids Ulrich and his friends for the next two days.

He hears the bed creak whenever Ulrich gets up, but pretends to stay asleep so Ulrich will go on ahead without him. He backs away, laughing apologetically when his friends ask him where he’s going.

“Sorry guys, gotta make up that last assignment. I’m trying to bring my grade up, you know?” he lies and scurries away.

He pulls Timothy into the bathroom right as lunch is starting, and even takes the liberty to lock them into a stall, just in case anyone decides to wash their hands before lunch or something.

Timothy is smiling against his mouth (“Hey, Odd,” he mumbles, and Odd rasps back a “hi!” before Timothy is on his lips again.), but Odd breaks away for a few moments.

“Hey,” he whispers, “I can’t see you for a few days.” Timothy sighs and runs his hand through his hair in a way that leaves Odd staring.

“Your friends again, right?” Timothy says. “They seem like nice people. I mean I’ve talked to Yumi, maybe, like twice, but they look like nice people. I’m sure they’ll be fine with this.”

With _us,_ Odd wants to say, but that means he has to face this. He keeps quiet.

“I know,” Odd mutters, pained. “It’s just… hard.”

“I know, I know,” Timothy replies soothingly, taking his hand, and Odd wonders why he ever went out with Sam in the first place if Timothy existed.

“It’ll all work out,” Timothy answers, trying to assuage his fears. “I’ll go first today,” he says, before bringing Odd’s hand to his lips and kissing it lightly.

He steps out of the stall with a wink, and Odd is left gazing at the back of stall door dreamily.

* * *

A few days is easier said than done. It takes Odd only two to crack.

School’s out for the week, and everyone’s milling about in the courtyard. Jeremie and Aelita are hanging out by the vending machine. Ulrich and Yumi are nowhere to be seen.

Odd trudges down the corridor and catches Timothy’s arm in his, yanking him behind him. Timothy yelps, and hastens to yell, “Sorry, project!” to his concerned friends.

Odd looks over his shoulder and asks, “Do you think they realize we don’t have any classes together?”

Timothy gives him a lazy smile. “Doubt it.”

They make their way up the stairs two at the time, and by the time they’re in Odd’s hallway, there’s no one around, and their hands are linked, fingers intertwining.

Odd opens his door and they’re barely inside for two seconds before Odd’s kicking the door closed and pushing Timothy against it, mouths crashing together.

“I missed you,” Timothy says.

Odd can barely answer, “I missed you too,” before Timothy pulls him towards him again.

They’re backing towards Odd’s bed, pulling and pushing like the tides, and the back of Odd’s knee slams into the bedframe painfully so that his leg buckles and he crashes onto the bed.

Timothy’s on top of him, and _damn_ has the boy never looked so good.

They grin at each other and come back in, and when Odd’s feeling gutsy enough to bite Timothy’s bottom lip, the boy gasps in a way that Odd’s never heard before.

The door bangs open.

“Just a sec, let me get my—” Ulrich is yelling back through the door, but oh _no_ he’s turning around and crap _crap crap this_ _was not su_ _pposed to happen!_

Timothy is scrambling to get off of Odd, Odd is scrambling to get far away from the boy, but it’s too late.

Ulrich freezes, taking in the scene in front of him.  “I —” he starts.

Timothy removes himself from over Odd intricately, and Odd sits up slowly, wishing he’s dreaming and this will all end soon.

Timothy gives him a warm look and a squeeze of hands. “It’ll be fine,” he says, and leaves.

Ulrich steps to the side to let him out.

The room is dead silent.

“Ah, hey Yumi!” they can hear from outside.

“Timothy! How are you?”

“I’m well, thanks,” is the reply, and then the words turn muffled and muted as the two walk down the hall.

Odd is still staring at the ground and hoping this nightmare will end. This is not how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be ready for the consequence. But suddenly it feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath him, only there’s no floor and just the Digital Sea that he’s fallen into.

“So…,” Ulrich says, sitting on his bed cautiously.

Odd doesn’t think things can get any worse.  

“I like girls and boys,” he blurts out.

Ulrich huffs out a laugh, and Odd’s mind aches trying to categorize it. Is he being ridiculed? Is the chuckle actually filled with scorn?

Ulrich answers, “Yeah, I can see that.”

Odd doesn’t know what comes next.

“Is this what you’ve been hiding from us these past few weeks?” Ulrich asks, and Odd doesn’t know what his reaction is because he _still_ can’t bring himself to look at his best friend.

Odd nods numbly. “Sorry I made you guys late to class so many times,” he mumbles.

“What?” Ulrich asks, confused. But the realization sets in, and he’s murmuring, “It’s fine,” with a turned head and blushing cheeks. 

But the answer has Odd hanging on to a hair’s width of hope, and he takes a risk and looks up. “You’re not mad?” he asks.

This time, Ulrich frowns, and his eyebrows crease together. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”

Odd opens his mouth to speak, but Ulrich beats him to it.

“Odd, I don’t care who you kiss. As long as it’s not on my bed,” Ulrich says, and Odd finally laughs. 

Ulrich’s smiling at him now, and Odd doesn’t think life can get any better, so he takes a chance. “Sure,” he says casually, “As long as you’re not making out with Yumi on my bed either.”

“ _Odd!”_

“Don’t you dare deny it, lover boy, I’ve been absent this past week but don’t think I haven’t noticed you gone —”

“Shut _up_ , Odd!”

“— And Yumi’s been missing too… Hmm, I wonder…”

“Odd!” Ulrich yells and throws a pillow at his face. Odd is laughing too hard at Ulrich’s beet-red face to care.

“If you don’t shut up, Odd, I swear to God, I will knock you out!” Ulrich laughs, standing up next to Odd’s bed and smacking him with his pillow repeatedly.

“Okay, okay… _Okay!_ I’ll stop—  just stop!” he says between bouts of laughter.

In his hysteria, Odd’s rolled off his bed and onto the floor. Satisfied with his answer, Ulrich flops down on the ground next to him.

They stare at the ceiling for a moment.

"Honestly, I'm kind of glad. I thought you were blushing at Sissy the other day, and that's way worse," Ulrich says. Odd laughs again, but then Ulrich continues, "Did you really think I would care if you’re bisexual?” 

Odd nearly jumps. _Bisexual_ … he’s never really called himself that before.

Odd sighs. “I was just scared,” he confesses.

Ulrich nods, and says, “You’ll tell everyone else tomorrow, right?”

Odd laughs weakly and turns away. “Right…”

“Odd, seriously.”

“I’ll try!”

Ulrich takes a deep breath, and this is how Odd knows something important is coming.

“Yumi told me her first kiss was with Aelita.”

“ _What?!_ ” Odd screams and sits up.

“Odd! Keep it down!” Ulrich hisses, propping himself up on his elbows too. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that they’ll be fine with it, so don’t worry so much.”

“Okay, okay… I’ll tell them…,” Odd starts.

Ulrich looks at him, waiting for the _but._

“I’ll tell them when you tell me what happened with Yumi!” Odd declares.

“What? _No!”_

“Fine,” Odd says, smug. “I guess I’ll just keep it a secret then.”

This is a lie. He isn’t going to keep this a secret any longer. He’s going to introduce Timothy to his friends, and he's going to hold hands with him and do it. If he doesn’t find time to tell them all together, he’ll make quiet moments like these, he’ll hold his breath and hope for the best and prepare for the worst. He’s not sure he’ll give up kissing covertly in empty bathrooms, though, because that’s a habit that shoots pangs of thrill down Odd’s spine.

“What’s it like? Or, what’s he like?” Ulrich asks, and Odd turns to him in surprise.

“Amazing,” Odd sighs, and adds on, “Now I know how you feel about Yumi.”

Odd dodges the pillow that follows after, and laughing, he can't remember what he was worried about in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i hope you enjoyed the first fic in my code lyoko series! each fic will be centered around one character (so there's four fics left) and will take place after XANA has been defeated. 
> 
> bisexual!Odd was something that had been playing in my mind when i rewatched some episodes again last year. i don't really like OCs personally, but Timothy was a necessity... i hope you didn't hate him *sweatdrops* anyway i tried to keep everyone as in-character as possible but even i could tell it was getting OOC at the end...
> 
> which is why! which is why i would be so, so, so grateful if you could maybe drop a sentence or two of constructive criticism down in the comments below! i want this series to be the best it can be, and having people's opinions would really help me know what to fix! if you liked it, maybe drop a little :) or if you thought i could change some things, a frowny face and some suggestions would help so much!
> 
> thank you for your time! see ya!


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